Animal
by Tricera35
Summary: A group of friends heads into the woods for a hike, but end up getting lost. While trying to find a way back, they run into something hungry in the woods and they are the main course. Can they survive the night?


The sun was shining through the trees of Star City forest as a dark green van was driving along the road below. A young man with a handsome face and short, styled red hair was driving while a young woman with long blonde hair in a ponytail was asleep in the passenger seat. In the back-driver seat, there was a young man with black hair wearing sunglasses with his earbuds in. There was another young man with short black hair sleeping on the other side with a young woman with red hair laying on his shoulder, looking at the forest pass them by from the window. "It's been too long. Huh, Wally?" She acknowledged to the driver, who nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it has. Meg, do you remember where the turnoff was?" He asked her while keeping his eyes on the road. "One or two miles pass the Hollow Creek sign." She informed him while waking up her boyfriend, Conner, in the process. "Does he have any idea where he's going?" He asked her. She looked at him and smiled. "No. I do. Go back to sleep, babe." She answered before laying back down on his shoulder. Smiling at her, he followed her lead and went back to sleep.

About an hour passes when the man in the sunglasses looked up from his phone to see the surroundings. "IS THIS IT?!" He yelled, waking everyone asleep up. "Oh my god. Dick." The female in the front seat gasped while Wally just laughed. "We're almost there, man." He answered but Dick still had his headphones in. "HUH?" he yelled again. "Almost!" the blonde yelled at back at him. Dick removed his sunglasses and took out his headphones. "I'm sorry, Artemis. You were saying?" he asked the woman in front again. "Almost. Oh my god, it's like talking to a deaf person." She expressed annoyed while Wally just laughed. "We're almost there." He told him. "You know, it's attitudes like that that make me wear these," Dick explained to Artemis before sticking his tongue out at her and put his headphones back in. The rest of the trip was full of shouts, complaints, and laughs.

After about an hour, they arrived at a reservoir near the edge of the forest but saw a sign that said "Road Closed" in front of the road they planned to take. "Oh, you have to be fucking kidding me," Wally mumbled when he noticed a piece of paper taped to a tree near their car. He turned the car off and got out with everyone else following his lead. Wally and Artemis walked up to the paper and it read 'Announcement from the ranger station. Forest closed due to Forest Regeneration.' "What's 'Forest Regeneration'?" Artemis asked out loud after reading the paper. Wally scoffed before responding "It's bullshit. They don't want anyone around when they cut it all down." He explained to her. Dick was sitting on the hood of the car listening to music when he added: "It isn't nice to fool Mother Nature." "No, it isn't. They're killing trees that are 100 years old." He angrily expressed. "Oh, you sound pissed." Artemis flirted with him while wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "I am pissed." He flirted back before kissing her. "I know. That's why we came: to enjoy what's here before its gone." She reminded him before kissing him again. Dick looked up from his phone and playfully gagged at the sight. "Hey, guys. Don't bring that out on the trail." He requested to them. Rolling their eyes, they walked back to the others to get their gear ready.

Conner and Megan went around to the back of the jeep to get their backpacks. "Is this place you were talking about?" He asked her while setting the windshield back up. "Kind of. It's pretty close, but might as well be the same thing. It's all the same forest." She answered before looking around the forest. "We used to camp here every summer. It was like our one family tradition." She reminisced to him. Conner smiled at her "Think this will get me brownie points with your folks or your brother?" he asked while motioning his head towards Wally. She smiled at this before replying "I wouldn't count on it." Wally walked up to them "What do you think? This ok?" He asked her while motioning where they were at. "Yeah, it's perfect." She answered and they started getting their gear out. Noticing Conner was having trouble with his backpack, Megan walked over and helped him fix it. Smiling at this, he said "This isn't right. I'm supposed to be fixing your bag." Chuckling a bit, she asked, "Oh, is it intimidating having your girlfriend used to the outdoors?" Caught off guard, he responded, "No, I just wanted to make sure if something happens, that you'd be ok." Giving a small smile, she gave him a small kiss before saying "Yeah, I'd be ok." Conner smiled before something pulled him back kind of hard. Turning his head, He noticed it was Wally putting more stuff into his backpack. "Sorry man. Just trying to hurry." He told him while packing more stuff. Conner was concerned a bit "Do we need all that stuff?" he asked him. "Can't be too careful man," Wally answered after finishing packing. Conner turned to face him "What about the car? Our stuff? Will it be alright here?" He asked concerned. Wally smiled "Dude, stop worrying so much. It'll be fine." He assured him before walking to the back seat. Conner turned back to Megan "You sure about this?" he asked her. "Yeah, I'm sure." She assured with a smile. "At least you're not the drill sergeant your brother is." Conner jokingly told her. "that'd be the 'step' part. His dad." She told him. "I heard that! I hear everything." Wally loudly told them which resulted in them chuckling.

Wally was making sure that everything was stowed away in the car when he noticed Dick was listening to his phone and dancing. Wally waved his hand at him to get his attention "Hey! You're not bringing that!" he hollered at him over his music. Dick noticed this and took out one of the earbuds "Huh?" he asked him confused. "Put it in the car. This is our date with Mother Nature." Wally reminded him. "Yeah, not gonna happen, man." He told him while pocketing his phone. Everyone shook their heads when Megan asked: "What are we waiting for?" Wally answered by motioning his head towards the passenger seat, where Artemis was doing her makeup. Megan walked over to the car door window. "You know it's just a hike, right?" She asked her. "So what? That means we can't look our best?" Artemis asked her rhetorically. Megan rolled her eyes before responding "You look fine. Come on, let's go." She told her, but Artemis was still applying her makeup. "Megan, let me tell you something. You are a natural beauty, ok? It's a gift. Girl's like me, we got to take what we have and work it. Besides, I have a reputation to uphold." She explained to her while putting her supplies away. "It's just us." Megan reminded her. Artemis smiled at the statement. "Oh Megs, you know better than that. It's never just us." She lets her know while pulling out her phone. After getting out of the car, She and Megan grabbed their boyfriends and asked Dick to take a photo of them sitting on the edge of the reservoir. "Ok, get together. Guys, get together." Dick tells them while moving back to get them all in the frame. After making sure they were all in the frame, Dick raised Artemis's phone. "1,2, everyone say 'Fifth wheel!'" he tells them. "Fifth wheel!" the 4 said while Dick took the picture. "oh, you're so cute when you're pathetic." Artemis joked to him as she grabbed her phone back. "You're not cute in that photo," Dick told her while he brought his phone out to take a selfie. "Man, I look good." He told himself while grabbing his backpack. After making sure they had everything, the group started their hike.


End file.
